PowerPoint allows you to insert a video onto a slide and play it during your presentation. This is a great way to make your presentation more engaging for your audience.
You can even edit the video within PowerPoint and customize its appearance. For example, you can trim the video's length, add a fade in, and much more.
Watch the video below to learn more about inserting videos in PowerPoint.
To insert a video from a file:
In our example, we'll insert a video from a file saved locally on our computer. If you'd like to work along with our example, right-click this link to our example video and save it to your computer.
From the Insert tab, click the Video drop-down arrow, then select Video on My PC.
Locate and select the desired video file, then click Insert.
The video will be added to the slide.
With the Screen Recording feature on the Insert tab, you can create a video of anything you are doing on your computer and insert it into a slide.
To insert an online video:
Some websites—like YouTube—allow you to embed videos into your slides. An embedded video will still be hosted on its original website, meaning the video itself won't be added to your file. Embedding can be a convenient way to reduce the file size of your presentation, but you'll also need to be connected to the Internet for the video to play.
Working with videos
To preview a video:
Click a video to select it.
Click the Play/Pause button below the video. The video will begin playing, and the timeline next to the Play/Pause button will advance.
To jump to a different part of the video, click anywhere on the timeline.
To resize a video:
Click and drag the corner sizing handles until the video is the desired size.
The corner sizing handles will resize a video while preserving its original aspect ratio. If you use the side sizing handles, the video will become distorted.
To move a video:
Click and drag to move a video to a new location on a slide.
To delete a video:
Select the video you want to delete, then press the Backspace or Delete key on your keyboard.
Editing and formatting videos
The Playback tab has several options you can use to edit your video. For example, you can trim your video to play an excerpt from the original, add a fade in and fade out, and add bookmarks that allow you to jump to specific points in the video.
Most of the features on the Playback tab can only be used with videos that are inserted from a file. They will not work with embedded videos.
To trim a video:
Select the video, then click the Playback tab on the Ribbon.
Click the Trim Video command.
A dialog box will appear. Use the greenhandle to set the start time and the redhandle to set the endtime.
To preview the video, click the Play button.
When you're done trimming the video, click OK.
To add a fade in and fade out:
On the Playback tab, locate the Fade In: and Fade Out: fields.
Type the desired values, or use the up and down arrows to adjust the fade times.
To add a bookmark:
Click the timeline to locate the desired part of the video.
From the Playback tab, click the Add Bookmark command.
The bookmark will appear on the timeline. Click the bookmark to jump to that location.
Video options
There are other options you can set to control how your video will play. These are found in the Video Options group on the Playback tab.
Volume:Changes the audio volume for the video
Start: Controls whether the video starts automatically or when the mouse is clicked
Play Full Screen: Lets the video fill the entire screen while playing
Hide While Not Playing: Hides the video when not playing
Loop until Stopped: Replays the video until stopped
Rewind after Playing: Returns the video to the beginning when it is finished playing
Formatting the appearance of a video
Like pictures, PowerPoint allows you to format the appearance of a video by applying a video style, adding a border, changing the shape, and applying various effects.
To create a poster frame:
You can add a poster frame to a video, which is the placeholder image your audience will see before the video starts playing. The poster frame is usually just a frame taken from the video itself.
Click the timeline to locate the desired part of the video.
From the Format tab, click the Poster Frame command. Select Current Frame from the menu that appears.
The current frame will become the poster frame.
If you want to use a picture from your computer, select Image from file.
To apply a video style:
Select the video, then click the Format tab on the Ribbon.
In the Video Styles group, click the More drop-down arrow to display available video styles.
Select the desired style.
The new style will be applied to the video.
To learn more about corrections, color adjustments, borders, shapes and effects, see our Formatting Pictures lesson.
Challenge!
Open our practice presentation. Also, right-click this link to our example video and save it to your computer. If you have already downloaded our practice presentation to follow along with the lesson, be sure to download a fresh copy.
On slide 2, Insert our example video file.
Resize the video so it fits next to the text box.
Apply a video style of your choice.
Trim the video so the start time is around 00:17.5 and the end time is around 00:25.
Add a bookmark somewhere in the middle of your video.
When you're finished, preview your video. It should look something like this:
